Pinnacle Airlines President Phil Trenary addresses hundreds of employees, downtown supporters and officials during a celebration commemorating his company's move to its new headquarters at One Commerce Square on Oct. 8, 2010. File/The Commercial Appeal

March 15, 2011 - Pinnacle Airlines President and CEO Phil Trenary reflects on his 14 years with Pinnacle during an interview Tuesday afternoon about his decision to step down as head of the Memphis based airline. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

March 15, 2011 - Pinnacle Airlines President and CEO Phil Trenary reflects on his 14 years with Pinnacle during an interview Tuesday afternoon about his decision to step down as head of the Memphis based airline. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

March 15, 2011 - Pinnacle Airlines President and CEO Phil Trenary reflects on his 14 years with Pinnacle during an interview Tuesday afternoon about his decision to step down as head of the Memphis based airline. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

March 15, 2011 - Pinnacle Airlines President and CEO Phil Trenary reflects on his 14 years with Pinnacle during an interview Tuesday afternoon about his decision to step down as head of the Memphis based airline. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

October 27, 2015 - Phil Trenary (center), President and CEO, Greater Memphis Chamber, listens to David Porter, President and Founder, Consortium Memphis Music Town, as he leads a tour of the Consortium's Talent Development Complex at 119 S. Main St. Tuesday. "The future of this city lives in its young," David Porter said. "I'm so proud of the young people of this city." (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) File photo/The Commercial Appeal

November 19, 2014 - Phil Trenary (left) and Carolyn Hardy were among those who spoke to the Shelby County Commission during an economic development session at a retreat held at the University of Memphis Fogelman Executive Center. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal) File photo/The Commercial Appeal

October 27, 2015 - (From left to right) - Diane Rudner, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Plough Foundation, David Porter, Founder and President, Consortium Memphis Music Town, Mike Bruns, Founder and former president of Comtrak, Phil Trenary, President and CEO, Greater Memphis Chamber, and George Monger, Vice President and Executive Director, Consortium Memphis Music Town, have a ribbon cutting ceremony during the opening of the Consortium's Talent Development Complex at 119 S. Main St. Tuesday. (Yalonda M. James/The Commercial Appeal) File photo/The Commercial Appeal

Memphis Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Phil Trenary (left) jokes with Ikea's Real Estate Manager Reed Lyons and Expansion Public Affairs Manager Joseph Roth (right) after a press conference in December 2014 in the Hall of Mayors to announce that a new Ikea store is planned for the Wolfchase area. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

Northwest Airlink president Phil Trenary deplanes the Spirit of Memphis in this 1998 file photo just prior to take-off Wednesday as his airline gets back up and running following Northwest Airlines strike. File photo/The Commercial Appeal

“I believe that we have a very, very strong team of senior vice presidents at the Memphis chamber,’’ said FedEx executive Richard Smith, who also serves as the voluntary chairman of the chamber’s board of directors.

In recent months, the chamber hired seven executives for specific jobs and also for their potential to eventually succeed Trenary as chief executive officer.

“We wanted people who were experts in their field and also with a strong executive presence and managerial presence,’’ Smith said.

Just who among the seven may emerge isn’t clear now, Smith said, noting, “one of them I think will step into a larger role.’’

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Richard W. Smith, Greater Memphis Chamber chairman and president of FedEx Trade Networks, speaks at the chamber's annual Chairman's Luncheon in the Grand Ballroom at The Peabody in 2017.(Photo: Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

“I want them to first do the job we hired them to come in here and do,’’ Smith said.

Robertson signed on to serve an interim chief for a year, although she could agree to stretch the role out for another two or three years, Smith said.

Nike executive Willie Gregory, the chamber’s vice chairman, suggested Robertson for the interim position and she stood out as the chamber’s executive committee solicited other possible candidates, Smith said.

Smith lauded Robertson’s ability to take the civil rights museum to national prominence and raise $43 million for operating and expanding the nonprofit museum.

Robertson, a former Holiday Inn executive, was also familiar with chamber efforts to widen its scope to create jobs, assist small and mid-size firms and aid minority- and women-owned firms.

Robertson will work occasionally at the chamber part time until Jan. 2, when she will officially step in as the full-time chief executive.

One primary duty will be overseeing the economic reform discussions with the City of Memphis, Shelby County government and the EDGE board, the primary economic development agency run by the city and county.

Commission member Beverly Robertson listens during a meeting of the Tennessee Historical Commission where they considered whether they will allow the City of Memphis to move the statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest at the McMinn County Living Heritage Museum in Athens, Tennessee on Friday, October 13, 2017. Forrest was a Confederate general and founding member of the KKK Ð later in life he denounced these views, but he's an extremely divisive figure in the state.(Photo: Calvin Mattheis, Knoxville News Sentinel)

Last spring, Smith launched a high-profile campaign to ramp up economic development activities. He said the present system of recruiting companies, training workers and assisting small and minority firms had failed to grow the Memphis economy for a decade.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said his administration is preparing to release an economic development plan. The City Council and Shelby County Commission also have organized separate committees to study and recommend reforms on the same matter.

Smith said he recently met with Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and discussed the idea of folding the EDGE agency under Shelby County, a move that Smith contends would put the county in the lead role for workforce training.

EDGE provides tax breaks for expanding and relocating businesses and also harbors the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce, or GMAC, a relatively new agency spun out of the chamber. GMAC is supposed to identify future job openings and ensure high schools, community colleges and vocational schools train a skilled workforce.

Since the county also has responsibility for the Workforce Investment Network, or WIN, a former state-run employment and training agency, aligning GMAC and WIN under country control could streamline workforce development, Smith said.

“Mayor Harris was very open to it,” Smith said, adding no commitments were made.

Smith describes himself as an impatient business executive. Some six months into his campaign to reform economic development efforts, he said he is satisfied with the progress.

"I wish we moved faster but this is as fast as it gets when you're talking to two different governments and you're getting a lot of different opinions,'’ Smith said. "It's not really up to me. It's up to the city and county. I'm an advocate. I'm trying to drive accountability."